How do you play Castles and Crusades at the table?1 - Complete theater of the mind.2 - Theater of the mind and occasionally putting some dice down to show where you're at.3 - Using the best method as it makes warranted. A fair combination of both.4 - Vast majority of encounters take place on the battle mat, markers, miniatures, etc.5 - The level of "All Out". There's miniatures, terrain, trees, DwarvenForge, a flat screen monitor, a projector, etc.

My face to face gaming is a solid 3. I never veer all the way to a 5. I try to push to go with a 1 (theater of the mind) as much as possible for expediency's sake. My GM style is largely improvisational, so "all out" normally isn't an option.

_________________

tylermo wrote:

Your efforts are greatly appreciated, Buttmonkey. Can't believe I said that with a straight face.

Fri May 11, 2018 12:39 pm

Go0gleplex

Greater Lore Drake

Joined: Fri May 30, 2008 7:00 amPosts: 3649Location: Keizer, OR

Re: Playing at the Table

Wouldn't "All Out" be more like renting a large warehouse, setting up the dungeon, and then LARPing the whole thing? ROFL

I'm a #4 myself. Never had the storage or gaming space for 5.

_________________"Rolling dice and killing characters since September 1976." "Author of Wardogs! and Contributor to Iron Stars and Starmada-Admiralty ed.""Certified crazy since 2009."

4 to 5, depending on what resources I am wanting to use for that sessions encounters. I haven't ran a face to face game, aside from Cons, for a couple of years now. So my youngest son makes more use of my projector than I do.

_________________Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

Grand Knight Commander of the Society.

Fri May 11, 2018 8:47 pm

serleran

Mogrl

Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2008 7:00 amPosts: 13789

Re: Playing at the Table

#3 I suppose as it is both all of them and the most accurate. I prefer #1 but there are times #2 makes sense. I would go #5 if anyone ever came to my house, but they don't, so they don't get that treatment. I actually dislike #4; for some reason, it takes me completely out of the game and turns into a "skirmish."

Interesting. I was expecting a lot more 1-3 responses.At one point, the group I played with did 2nd Ed Combat & Tactics.It raised me up to a 4. Slowly I'm moving towards a 4-5 range. 5 for bigger battles, etc.

Sat May 12, 2018 1:29 am

T1Hound

Hlobane Orc

Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:16 amPosts: 193Location: Allentown, PA

Re: Playing at the Table

Peter wrote:

#1: Paper, dice, pencils, and the core book.

#4 makes it a board game.

#5 makes it a video game.

I've seen a lot of board game movements where players are counting and calculating the best approach, etc. If they do it more than twice, I'm typically giving the "you're wasting time" look. Very close to metagaming.

Sat May 12, 2018 1:31 am

Persimmon

Ungern

Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2017 5:11 amPosts: 76

Re: Playing at the Table

Started out gaming in 1981 and we played 1 for several years, gradually adding minis. When we played a lot of MERP in the 1990s we went more towards minis because several of the players were new and most ran multiple PCs. So we eventually got to the 3-4 level where I stayed for many years. Later, one of our gamers was a professional artist and he could bust out the battle mat and sketch encounters really well. Then I moved away and bequeathed my large mini collection to the group. So now I'm back to 1-2 , where I'll most likely stay unless we start playing more to justify buying minis again.

Sat May 12, 2018 2:25 am

Go0gleplex

Greater Lore Drake

Joined: Fri May 30, 2008 7:00 amPosts: 3649Location: Keizer, OR

Re: Playing at the Table

Started with just imagination in very late '76 during lunch hour in the school library and the three little white books. Have done chits or mini's since '79 and later. Found it was easier to keep people 'honest' in where their PCs were at in the room and what they could do when. I disagree about their use turning it into a bored..sorry...board...game when only used for combat encounters. Simply due to the prevalence of miniatures and such in tabletop wargames such as full thrust, starmada, micro armor, and napoleonics which are more modeled simulations. #5 is more of a board game simulation in by presenting a fixed field (the dungeon model) you automatically have a limited field like a game board...and no real mystery on the size of where you are exploring. But that's how I see it.

_________________"Rolling dice and killing characters since September 1976." "Author of Wardogs! and Contributor to Iron Stars and Starmada-Admiralty ed.""Certified crazy since 2009."

I just use electronics to portray the battle field and the mini's, because that is far easier than actually setting up all the physical components, and then putting them away. Plus I don't need to worry about someone breaking any of my painted mini's. Plus digital assets are far cheaper and easier to come by than the physical assets. Storage is on the microscopic level, instead of the boxes and shelves level as well.

_________________Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

Grand Knight Commander of the Society.

Sat May 12, 2018 4:16 pm

mgtremaine

Ulthal

Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 8:00 amPosts: 451Location: San Diego, Ca

Re: Playing at the Table

I guess #3 .. Once we had miniatures (sometime in the early 80's) we used it for marching order. Combat was verbal. Eventually there would be a rough layout of Monster figures (or dice or whatever). Very rare their would be a "battle mat", if fact I think 2 or 3 times, the temple of the Dragon where the party threw down vs Timat is one, it's hand drawn on a huge piece of graph paper - because, you know, breath weapons are AOE

Sat May 12, 2018 5:19 pm

Fizz

Lore Drake

Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 8:00 amPosts: 1049

Re: Playing at the Table

Mostly 3, but sometimes 4 when there is a lot going on.

-Fizz

Sun May 13, 2018 1:29 am

Spade Marlowe

Ungern

Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2016 5:46 pmPosts: 50Location: Seattle

Re: Playing at the Table

Somewhere between 3 & 4. I find mapping the area helps me better describe what's going on (plus I just really get into maps). I use the battle map that came with the Pathfinder beginner's box and some dry erase markers (the really day glow ones). We really don't have a bunch of mini's, and definitely not for all the monsters, so I usually resort to "Theater of the Mind" for that that part, using dice if the players want to get a little tactical. Besides, I'm trying to describe the monsters by their physical appearance, instead of just saying 'Inside the room are 3 orcs.'

Sun May 13, 2018 2:40 am

Captain_K

Greater Lore Drake

Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 10:37 pmPosts: 2097Location: North Coast

Re: Playing at the Table

4 with a chalk board, but my new crew ALL have 3D printers.... the end is near old men... 5 is going to need a 6 soon!

_________________Wow, Another Natural One! You guys are a sink hole for luck. Stay away from my dice.

4 with a chalk board, but my new crew ALL have 3D printers.... the end is near old men... 5 is going to need a 6 soon!

Yeah, I've had one for close to 2 years. Haven't even set it up and made anything.

_________________Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

Grand Knight Commander of the Society.

Sun May 13, 2018 2:58 am

Lurker

Greater Lore Drake

Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:00 amPosts: 3698Location: Oklahoma

Re: Playing at the Table

for me, back in the day, it was solid 3.

Now today, DMing for my girls it slides between 2 & 3.

_________________"And so I am become a knight of the Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows!" - Mark Twain

For quite a lot of the combats I go completely Theatre of the Mind. If I want to make the battle seem more significant or there's some cool tactical stuff I'd like to throw in for fun, then I tend to pull or maps or terrain. There is a fairly high correlation between the battle's significance / thematic coolness and whether I use props. A skirmish with goblins? No need for props. The final boss battle between the Death Knight and a horde of undead minions on a series of islands floating in the Astral Plane? Get me some props! It'll be fun!

I'm a big believer in the right tool for the job.

_________________Never underestimate the power of stupid people in a large group.

I just ran a game this past weekend at a convention, and I had the battle mat out and dice, markers, etc. None of the players seemed interested in using those devices and wanted theater of the mind. I personally don't see that all that much any more, but it was sort of refreshing, especially for a convention game.

I just ran a game this past weekend at a convention, and I had the battle mat out and dice, markers, etc. None of the players seemed interested in using those devices and wanted theater of the mind. I personally don't see that all that much any more, but it was sort of refreshing, especially for a convention game.

~O

I was surprised at the lack of miniatures and the use of miniatures at GaryCon. Even GenCon, most organized play rarely are miniatures used, IMO.

Thu May 17, 2018 10:07 pm

Captain_K

Greater Lore Drake

Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 10:37 pmPosts: 2097Location: North Coast

Re: Playing at the Table

So much time and money into buying and painting... listening to a radio show is great fun and a great story teller lets you paint in your mind's eye a great show.. but there's still nothing wrong with a movie with great special effects!

So I like the mini use.. it adds something plus with 6 PC and 12 little monsters its hard to recall where everything is....

_________________Wow, Another Natural One! You guys are a sink hole for luck. Stay away from my dice.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Baidu [Spider] and 12 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum